Page 114 of Knot All is Crystal
Manny reaches for her hand. “I never hated him, not really. I distrusted him and didn’t like him, sure. You have to admit, before he knew you were his scent match, his motivations were suspect. I do not believe he could allow harm to come to you now, especially after he came for you in the alley and took you to meet Pack Lupine, no questions asked.”
“Regardless of what we think, sweetness, the question is, what do you think? Do you want Puck in this pack?” I wiggle off her lap as I talk until I’m kneeling before her. “It’s your decision.”
Her eyes drop to where her hands now twist in her lap. “Of course I do. He’s my Alpha. My scent match. He’s as much a part of me as all of you.”
“Okay then. It doesn’t have to be a big thing where you move him in or anything. We can figure it out once he comes through with getting you out of Prism.” Any time I think of the plan with Lupine, it makes me feel queasy. I wish we could just kill the bastard and get it over with. “Are you all sure there’s nothing we can do? Why can’t we just…” I pantomime firing a gun.
“No weapons in the nest,” Manny chastises jokingly.
“Better throw me out permanently, then, because I’ve got a WMD in here.”
The other Alpha narrows his eyes at me. “Do I want to-”
“Weapon of Muff Destruction!” I interrupt.
Gage and Crystal howl with laughter, and Manny barely blinks. “That was awful. You’re about to get your joke privileges taken away.”
I clutch my chest. “You wouldn’t.”
He clicks his tongue and strokes Crystal’s hair. “I would. Our Omega should not be subject to the world’s worst jokes.”
My Omega reaches out for my hand. “They’re not that bad, Alpha,” she says through restrained laughter. “No, there’s not anything I can do other than be ready when Lupine and the Hawks get there.”
“Okay, but Maverick had a point. Why can’t we just shoot the guy?” Gage asks, mirroring my thoughts.
“Because it leaves a power vacuum,” Manny explains. “Any of his competitors or another crime family can immediately take over. While that may get Crystal out, it leaves all the other Omegas and people trapped in his supply chain.” He subtly shifts deeper into the soft surface of the nest, hauling Crystal halfway onto his lap. “But Lupine has a deal with the Hawks to take over the Conglomerate. They can clean it up, absorb it into their operation.”
“How are the Hawks better than the Conglomerate?” I ask the other Alpha. “Aren’t they dangerous?”
“Oh, no doubt, but they’re not in the skin trade. In fact, they are known for being extremely involved in dismantling trafficking rings,” Manny responds.
“One of the members of Lupine is in the Hawks,” Crystal adds. “He’s, like, their liaison or something. Harvey. The Hawks help them get the victims out of the Conglomerate and either return them to their previous lives or set them up with new ones. They still have their hands in drug stuff, but honestly, I don’t think fizz is the problem here. Or at least, not the immediate one.”
I haul Crystal’s feet into my lap and knead the bottoms. “Okay, so. Go through the plan with me again.”
She smiles indulgently. “Of course, Alpha. Puck will collect Atlas, a Beta that works with Lupine and a friend of mine, to pose as a male Omega. His cousin, the one who gave him the Alpha blocking drugs, has some synthetic Omega pheromones that should fool Kieran. While Atlas is inside, Lupine and the Hawks will get into position. Between me, Puck, and Atlas, we should be able to get them into Prism to start emptying the pleasure dens.”
My stomach bottoms out. “Are… are those women not there of their own free will?”
“Not all of them, no,” she says in a small voice.
Bile rises in my throat. That was my first time at the den, but if Crystal hadn’t been there…
“Oh God,” I say quietly. “I almost…”
She shushes me. “Don’t think about that, Mav. We’re getting them out.”
“Okay, so the Hawks are emptying the dens?” Gage asks, getting the conversation back on track.
Crystal groans as my fingers dig into her soles, eyes falling shut. “Yeah, and while that is happening, Puck will kill Kieran. Nitro, the President of the Hawks, will step in from there and get rid of the body. Then he’ll work with Lupine to dismantle his Omega supply chain and find the rest of the trafficking victims.”
She talks about murder like it’s the weather. I know she’s desensitized to this world and beyond ready to be done with it, but I’m not. I don’t like thinking about my Omega in this scheme.
“And what about your Omega guardianship?” Manny asks. “I’m assuming it’s not going to be reported that he’s dead. How are we going to get around that?”
She winces. “No fucking clue, honestly. Forged paperwork, maybe?”
“One thing at a time, I suppose,” Gage muses. He’s been mostly quiet, and I wish I could tell what he was feeling.
